day one again

Not sure why on why I prefer the colder weather to start my exercise programs, but I do.  Maybe because the hot summer days and running no longer work for me, and I can't stand to be indoors running on a treadmill when it is a great day to play golf.  Starting over is not a depressing event for me, it's an invitation to enjoy life and living. It is a chance to do better and to make a different significant change to my lifestyle.
The plan is simple, exercise and eat better to lose weight. The old midsection needs to diminish and I need to get some of this load off my feet and knees.  So it's back to the gym and following the "diet," though I prefer "eating," plan in order to get it done.  I know from the start I will fail on some days and I will excel on others, the overall result must be in the positive direction.  ... wait ... did I just see a guy on GMA who gained weight in order to go through the loss of weight experience of his clients? Really? Publicity stunt?

Yesterday I managed a 30 minute session on the elliptical trainer.  hmmm ... I didn't seem to mind it too much, my knee is alright and my foot did not hurt any more than usual.  I did an online search of elliptical training machine routines. Jillian Michaels is all over helping people through a web based automatic response, personal training program.  Amazingly all of the exercise activities selected for me were the ones I selected in pre-program survey.  First week is free, then it's four dollars a week (I think ... I immediately opted out) charged directly to your credit card.

Later today is shopping for the proper food to eat this week. Using the Belly Off diet to help keep me focused.  2 kilo calories a day with lots of mono unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). I will be making a batch of fire water later this afternoon.

Goals

I will be returning to the gym next week. I tried running a couple of days ago...oh boy! My focus will be to start weight training and core work with two outcomes in mind.

1. lose weight
2. improve my golf game.

My goals for improving my golf game are:

I am becoming a 10 or lower handicap golfer.
Not embarrassed of intimidated by anyone on my course.
I will practice with focus to  develop a foundation of skills that I can draw upon, such that each shot becomes a natural extention of  my athletic abilites..
My improvements start in play start today, I will reach this goal by July 1, 2011
Marker for achieving my goal will be three consecutive rounds played in the low 80's at trcc.

I continue to improve today.

Did it ... starting to working on it

Half marathon completed yesterday, ran the Great Bay Half Marathon 2011 in Newmarket NH. Got around the course in 2:15:29, averaging 10:29 a miles. It was a successful event in that I wsas able to run the entire distance. As I anticipated, I hit a wall and pushed through it at the 11.5 mile mark.

Taking pride in your accomplishments is vital to moving forward. It was great to accomplish something have never attempted before. I am not the fastest runner and had no dreams of a miraculous, kid from nowhere coming on to a first place finish. I finished and enjoyed the experience. I hope that along the I provided some comfort and support to those around me.

Smewhare about five miles out I find myself running next a lady, we had been close together for the past five minutes. Thirty or more runners pass us in that time, I ask her "do you thing anyone else is behind us?" She grins, shakes her head then picks up her pace leaving me behind. On I plod.

Coming to a hill, a big hill, a steep long hill with what appeared to be goats at the top hill. I swear I heard yodelling. I glanced to my left and spotted a woman bounding up the aforementioned hill. She looked like those astronauts skipping across the lunar surface as she floated past my lumbering.

I mentioned that "I wished I had lost those ten pounds I was planning to do last month."
She politely smiled, "There's always next year." she gleefully responded.
"I'll this day one."

As we crossed paths me heading north, them heading south I noticed a few runners looking like they were in distress, hell we had just run ten and a half miles we all were in disstress. "Hey! smile, remember you paid to do this!"
"Oh yeah this was a great way to spend my money wasn't it!"
"Can you believe I am doing this voluntarily?"
I spot someone walking, trying to regroup as they prepare for the final couple of miles "That's right! it's all about forward progress."
A limper, she has a blister and still two miles to go, "I wish I had your courage to continue!"

Oh oh! here's that wall they talk about. I'm not halfway through a full marathon and can only imagine if it's double, I'm not wanting any part of it. Mmmm, what to do. I distract myself cheering on those I am now passing as I head south, I know how much further they have to go to get here. I then spot him. I knew it would happen, and I still could not believe it. I pass a runner on his cell phone. I do a double take, and chuckle. Really, on the phone some two hours into a run?

Look the 12 mile mark, only one more to go. A cute coed is running with me, and we chat a little. "Inside a mile" reaffirming myself that I will finish. She informs me we are "seven tenths to the finish." I see she is wearing a gps on her wrist.  Having driven the course the day before I share my limited course knowledge with her, afterall we are both runner, "We have one more steep hill, it's short but it is steep about a quater mile ahead."

"Oh, this is a hilly course, I wish I knew that before I started out." She falls back slowly, as if preparing herself for the impending final obstacle.
Up the hill I continue, to the flat part, before a final slow rise, then down a gentle slope to the finish line. About a hundred yards from the end a little boy extends his arm to high five the soon to finish runner. I am only happy to accept his congratulations. Then I spot my wife with her camera, a video tape of me running to the finish line. The two best sights all day!

Now to create a plan to lose weight and to stick to the plan. I will also be looking to improve my golf game, both through swing improvement lessons and learning to control the mental part of the game.

I am tired and still need to recoup so I can focus for more than ten minutes on any topic.

Fear, from nowhere.

I started this running adventure waking up every morning with some times excruciating pain in my left heel. I learned that though it hurt I could run with relatively little to no pain, so I continued. My runs were a struggle at first. The day after would cause more discomfort and frustration. My mind brought me back to a time when running was freeing and pleasurable. An easy five mile cruise through the streets, past the mansions, along the beach transitioning off the pavement and onto the sand.

Sunny day and fresh air. The pounds melted away. It made dealing with the mental agony of my separation almost tolerable, and for that I am forever grateful. Time didn't matter, much like Forest Gump I just felt like running, so I did. A little longer every week, no goal, no mission, I just ran. Then the bomb dropped from an unlikely source and  from someone just wanting to provide support and encouragement for what I have been doing. "you should enter the road race."

I though about doing just that, I could compare how I had been doing against other runners I would pass long my various routes. Young, virile and heck I haven't been in a competitive situation for sometime. Imagine racing against the best the region has to offer, the Cinderella story of the kid from nowhere winning his first race.

My mind shifted from pleasure to work, I had better get working to see how fast I do or could or need to be to challenger. The fun of it all plummeted. It now became a matter of work and no longer just running.

Was it the fear of facing a challenge in a sport I didn't


2.25 to 8.04

Continuing to make progress

I am still at it, though I find myself less interested in noting how I an progressing.  Today for instance I ran 9.7 miles. This maybe the longest continuousos run I have ever completed.

My plans keep changing from weight loss to distance/endurance running for the time being, I am primarily a runner. With the weather changing I know I want to spend more time outdoors. Golf season is also just around the corner. Conflicted internally, but optomistic and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead.

That half marathon actually appears to be doable. If only the last of this annoying heel pain would subside. I run to run, not necessarly to race, but to run.

That's not a lost emu, it's me.

Today is one of those days that I truly haven't had in a long time, I didn't feel comfortatble at any point in today's run.  So what I tell myself as I completed my run anyway. Trudging along on ice and snow covered sidewalks. Proudly staying off teh roadway, out of traffic and thereby diminishing the possibility of becoming a hood ornament.

Then you see it, a large puddle of liquid water completely crossing you path.

You brain clicks into high gear as you begin trying to determine the depth of the puddle, temperature of the water and condition of the bottom. If it is smooth ice on the bottom and I've got three meters to cross at a depth of six centimeters while travelling at seven mile and hour my mass will slide for two meters before the upper body splashes down. Options: continue and hope for the best, or stop and walk around. The choices are ovbious to either a fifteen year old or a fifty year old.

I ain't no spring chicken so I give up the time over safety and compfort.  Continu on in a slow and deliberate manner throughout the remainder of the run.

Success is getting out the door and making it back, knowing I've done my best today.

I succeded today. I'm just glad I wasn't on Candid Camera.

I am a runner.

I am back to long runs on the weekend (for now) weather permitting, of five or more miles. Yeah! It feel great to be moving again and making progress. I have been focusing on staying on pace. I'm not sure what the pace truly is, but I do feel like I am steady all the way through the run. Yesterday I completed 7.22 miles in an hour and eighteen minutes. Four minutes and 7 tenths of mile longer than last week's run.  I just wish I didn't live on a hill, because I coming home invloves an uphill trudge at the end of the run. Good for training, bad on the brain.

One of the greatest joys I have experienced in my running is spending time away on my terms. If it weren't for dodging the taffic where I live it would be nirvana.  As it is right now I spend half of the time on sidewalks and half of it on the road.  I am looking forward to the snow melting so I can occassionally run the rail trail.

The most exciting thing this week was waking up and not feeling extreme pain in my foot. I don't yet believe that my plantar faciitis is subsiding, I need at least a week to start falling for that one.