Health

I’m really impressed with myself, in how far I’ve been able to come in such a short time, with my running. Last Thursday evening I ran about 3.3 miles (the equivalent of a 5K race!). Friday I felt all squishy so didn’t do much of anything. Saturday I tried to go out running alongside Doc riding his bike, but I was still feeling squishy so I got maybe 1/4 mile before I turned around and came right back home. I did about 20 minutes of yoga Saturday night instead. Sunday I did a little light swimmming, and ran about 1-1/2 miles around the park at home. There’s some pretty significant uphills in the park; it’s not easy. Monday I went over to the track at the junior high and did about 2 miles, split between running and walking. Tuesday I did about 2.5 miles, one of which was on the treadmill before I gave that up (it makes me dizzy and seems to take a reeeeally long time, compared to running a track or the neighborhood. A space-time continuum anomaly?) Tonight I ran 3 miles. I’m getting to where 3 miles is fairly comfortable. I think that consistency is the key. I need to do this every night, or at least most nights. I need to get to the point where 3 miles is easy — and soon.

Last night we met Yvonne and Nate out for some wine and cheese after work. We’d all had crappy days, except for maybe Nate, so I was really glad to go somewhere and sit and talk and drink. We were supposed to go down to Jim’s apartment afterwards for an open house party that he and Bill were having, but we were just so tired that we decided to go home instead. I’m sorry I missed it. I’ve been running very consistently this week. I ran Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights, and will go again tonight. The weather is getting hot to the point where I’m not sure I’m going to want to/be able to run outdoors for much longer. Yvonne thinks that if we get our “base” level at 3 miles then we’ll be fine. Right now I’ve been able to do 2.25 without much problem, so probably only another couple of weeks until I’m comfortable at 3. On Wednesday I had planned to go to the gym on campus and purchase a year’s membership. It used to be free, but they’ve completely remodeled the building and now they are charging monthly fees. Which is annoying because I’ve “belonged” to the gym for 11-1/2 years free of charge and I don’t want to have to start paying now; but on the other hand it’s only $10 per month, which is 1/3 of what a regular gym would charge, and it’s close and convenient and offers nearly all the same amenities as a “real” gym. Mid-afternoon on Wednesday I got a call from someone in the HR department, telling me that I’d won a drawing for filling out a wellness assessment online. I didn’t even know there was a drawing. I’d just done it in order to get a 10% […]

Yesterday after work I did Day One of the “Get Your Fat Lazy Ass Out Of The House Spring Training Program,” which was a mere 1.5 mile run (which I ran all of, in a row, without stopping). I achieved the ultra rare Holy Grail of How I Feel Whilst Exercising, which may have been due to what I ate for lunch (baked beans, a little sausage, an orange, carrots) and how long it had been since I ate (4 to 4.5 hours). I may have explained this before, but let me talk about the Holy Grail for a minute. When I’m running, I usually have one of the following conditions as a strike against me: My muscles building up too much lactic acid and burning/tiring out too quickly My heart rate and breathing going too fast and making my chest and back hurt Just plain no energy. Some combination of the above 3 unfortunate conditions. The Holy Grail occurs when my cardio is good, my muscles are not tiring out, and I have enough energy. It’s rare, but last night was one of those nights. If I’d had the time I would have continued running for maybe 3 miles, but I really did have some place to be and I was late. I felt good while I was going, just a teeny bit tired at the end, and I felt GREAT about an hour after I got done… I guess it was the adrenaline or something still in my system. Also, I timed myself, and when I’m feeling good like that and when it’s not 100 degrees outside, apparently I can do a 10 minute mile. At least I can at first… who knows what I’ll slow down to after a few miles. After I got done, we went […]

Yes, I think I’ve finally lost my mind. I have decided to train for a marathon. Probably only a half marathon. (This is me we’re talking about, after all.) The furthest I’ve ever run before at one stretch is 5K (3.3 miles). So now I’m gonna do 13.1? Ha! Last week sometime, when Doc came to bed I half woke up and said to him “I think that I have to run a marathon.” A couple days later I told Yvonne about this crazy thing I said while asleep, and she suggested, “Why not? If you want to run one half of the White Rock Marathon in December, I’ll run the other.” I thought about it for a couple of days and realizeda) it will be a really good personal challenge, something in my life I can be truly proud of;b) If I was doing it on my own, I could change my mind and quit in the middle of training, but when someone else is counting on me to do my part, that’s not going to happen; andc) When we go to Belize next year I’ll probably be in much better shape and may even be able to put on a swimsuit without shame! So. Today begins my training in earnest. I’m thinking about running with Yvonne regularly, getting a treadmill, and/or joining some sort of running training group.