Week 1, Day 5

I did it!

Unfortunately, I shared the track with three other people this morning. Four, if you count the dog. One of them was Creepy Binocular Man. Obviously, I'm going to have to get up earlier if I want to run by myself.

I wasn't feeling it this morning. I got up a little before 9:00, fed and medicated everyone. I wasn't hungry but I felt I needed something in my belly, so I ate a handful of almonds and raisins. Chased that with a cup of water, then drove down to the track. I was disappointed to see other people there and had that first impulse to turn around and go home. But I've come too far to let some track walkers deter me.

As it was, we all stayed pretty well spaced from each other. Creepy Binocular Man passed me twice (once during a run, once during the cool down) and the guy with the dog disappeared sometime after my third run.

Again, the running is getting easier; it's the walks in between that are killing me. Suggestions? Remedies? Anyone? Also, I realized I'm no longer sore the day after a run. Improvement!

So now I'm home (obviously). I just ate a banana and in 15 minutes I'm going to do my regular 20 minutes of cardio, plus my ab workout.

I really need to get new ear buds. I've got the ones that came with my iPod, but they slip out of my ears too easily.

I know they say fresh is better, but I'm thinking I might buy a bunch of frozen fruit for breakfast smoothies. I just bought a (cheap) new blender, and I really want a damn smoothie. I've got a couple of gigantic tubs of plain Wildwood Organics soy yogurt leftover from the Gathering earlier this month (gad, has it been that long already??), so why don't I use them?

I'm so bored with food. I really want to make this, but the extent of my cooking abilities extends only to how long I should nuke a boca burger in the microwave.

This is why I’m fat. I don’t eat enough varied foods. It’s hard, living with my mom, because she spends most of her time in the kitchen, preparing meals for her guinea pig. No, really. And the fridge/freezer is full of crap I don’t eat, and it’s too much of a bother to fight my way in and find something.

Lame excuse, I know. Once she’s back in Florida for the winter, I think I’ll be experimenting a lot in the kitchen. That is, if the guinea pig will let me.

Week 1, Day 4

That's right. I decided to stick with Week 1 until I feel up to Week 2.

Totally the right decision. The runs were much easier than last week; it was still a push, but my recovery time is a lot quicker now. I felt pretty good except for my legs. What're they called, the soleus muscles? Kill me on my walks. I would have done well all around if it weren't for my shrieking leg muscles, which usually starts around the halfway point. I stretch after the five minute warm up, but so far that doesn't seem to have helped.

Sad news: the pool is closed for two weeks. Maintenance. Pfft.

I got up late this morning, so I scarfed down a banana after feeding the animals and putting on some sunblock. I want to get into the fruit-for-breakfast thing since I'm usually not that hungry in the morning anyway.

Oh and I found my clip ons! I went to Walmart on Sunday to return my digital camera (*weep*), and I stopped by the church to retrace my steps. Sure enough, I found them poking up out of the grass. So glad I didn't have to buy a new pair.

I think one thing that made the run easier today is that I saw myself in a full length mirror the other day. There's one hanging on the back of my bathroom door, but I rarely look in it. The only time I look in a mirror is when I wash my face. Anyway, I was getting dressed in the bathroom and happened to glance at myself in the full length. Then I did a double take and took a closer look. I realized that, though I'm still fat, I seem to have more of an hourglass shape these days, rather than the blobular look I've been sporting for the last four years.

I went back and checked my notes from February, and I've lost almost four inches in my waist. On one hand, it seems like I should have lost more in almost seven months, but on the other hand 3.5 inches is 3.5 inches!!!

Toward the end of my run, a bunch of kids had invaded the playground which sits to the sw of the track. I was kind of embarrassed because of my skin-tight, flub-accentuating, salmon pink running shirt, but it quickly passed. I was waiting for one of them to say something so I could reply, "Is this where you want to be when Jesus comes back?" Because my day isn't complete if I don't quote Joe Dirt. Plus, they're Adventists so it would've really freaked them out.

Week 1, Day 3

Didn't get a lot of sleep last night.

Woke up lying in a pile of cat vomit.

Ran anyway. Day 3 is officially my bitch!

I found out from my mom that church starts at 10 a.m., so I figured I had a pretty good chance of not running into anyone. I got down there a little after 9:00 and there were six cars in the parking lot, along with a huge "tour" bus. Godly music poured forth from out thine open windows.

Or something.

At least I had the track to myself. This time I ran on the inside lane, which is the lane I personally voted least likely to cause me to fall in a pothole and snap an ankle.

Much easier run today. I feel pretty damn good. Not sure if it's "good enough to start Week 2" good or "I'm not dead" good.

The wonderful news is, I've lost some more inches. I weigh myself every morning after I pee, but I don't sweat the numbers. The tape measure is my only friend, and so far it hasn't let me down. I've lost an inch and a half in the breasts and another inch in the hips and waist. Maybe someday I'll feel brave enough to post my weight, but for now I'll just say I weigh one hundred and really fat point four pounds.

What helped, I think, was that instead of thinking, "Gad, I've got seven more runs to go," I paid close attention to the muscles that were propelling me along the track. I concentrated on how good it felt to use those muscles. 17 years ago, I had an operation that changed my life. I won't bore you with the details, but basically, I stretched my right leg three inches. I spent some time in a wheelchair, upgraded to a walker and spent every day torturing my muscles with physical therapy, got bumped up to crutches and eventually I was walking on my own without any assistance. For those five months, I thought a lot about running, and promised myself I'd take it up after this Ilizarov thing was all over with.

I never kept that promise. Or at least, I waited almost 20 years to make good on it.

So now I feel pretty good about completing Week 1. Except I lost my clip-on sunglasses. That makes it the second pair I've lost in two months. I'm not one for losing things, so that really pisses me off. Hopefully I'll find them in the grass by the track on Tuesday.

Week 1, Day 2

I made it to Day 2! It kicked my ass, but I made it!

It was a lot harder today, I think, because I wasn't alone on the track. When I got there, a woman was pushing a stroller around (and walking a dog), and her daughter was wobbling along behind her on a bike. Thank gad she was wearing a helmet, that's all I hafta say.

The woman was very polite, though. Every time I would pass her, she would pull her dog and stroller over to the right and wait for me to run by. And by "run" I mean "plod." I'm not full-on running, here. Just a very gentle trot. I've got arthritis in both knees, so I'm taking it real easy.

It was a lot warmer today than Tuesday, and I had decided to go out in shorts and a tank top, fat and flab be damned. I think that had a lot to do with how hard it was. By the fourth run, I was begging for the end. I still don't know how I pushed through the rest, but I did.

I'm a little nervous about Saturday. I'm not a religious person, but it's a big seventh day adventist community here. All very nice (vegetarian) people, but Saturday is their sabbath, and I'm going to be parking in their lot and running behind their church. I hope I don't offend anyone.

Now I just need to stop eating like crap.

Week 1, Day 1

Today I started the Couch-to-5K running program. Again. I've attempted it twice before and haven't yet made it past Day 1. I'm determined this time, though.

I decided to do my runs on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday because Monday, Wednesday and Friday are the days that I do strength training. In other words, those are my long days, and I didn't want to cram more exercise into my schedule. Plus! I take my mom swimming on Tuesdays and Thursdays (which are also my aerobic/abs days); not only do I get to swim my little heart out, but I can dip my aching muscles in the hot tub afterwards. Everybody wins!

The other times I've attempted this, I ran with my sister and her boyfriend. Running alone, I've found, is a lot harder.

My last big paycheck, I splurged and bought myself an iPod Nano. I had resisted the idea of an mp3 player for a long time because I'm not a big fan of blasting loud music directly into my ear canal. But when I heard about Robert Ullrey’s Cto5k podcast, I decided it was time to give in and buy one.

Last week I decided, once and for all, that I was going to stick with this running thing. My main motivation, I admit, is weight loss.

This morning, I got up before my alarm even went off. I literally jumped out of bed before I could talk myself out of it. I ate a quick breakfast, took my dog out for a walk around the yard and then snatched up my iPod and that arm thingy to hold my iPod while I run, and drove into town. There is a crappy old track behind the church. It's full of cracks and potholes, but it's a track.

All in all, I did pretty well. When I got to the sixth or seventh run, I started to feel it, but it wasn't too bad. As soon as the last run was over, I switched over to some Nick Drake and cooled down for five minutes. Then I stretched, got in my car and went home to finish working out before taking Mom to the pool.

Not too shabby. Yay me.