On the Road Again...

No, I'm not going anywhere. This is just to signify that I ran on the street, instead of the treadmill, for the first time in over two months this morning. The verdict? Not bad. Not great, but definitely not bad.

The specifics:
I just ran around my neighborhood, but I was feeling pretty tight this morning, so I walked for five minutes to get me a good warmup. After that, I ran two minutes and walked one minute until I had done about two miles (i.e., two loops around my neighborhood), and then another five minute cooldown as I walked back to the house. All told, including warmup and cooldown, took 31 minutes for 2.5 miles. The running/walking portion took 21 minutes for roughly two miles. Sorry I can't be much more exact than that... I don't have Nike+. Yet.

The narrative:
It was raining in the River City as I left the house, but the sun was still blinding... one of those oddities of Florida living. At 7AM, the heat was already starting to make itself known. As I turned the corner, I realized that my achilles area on my right leg was pretty tight... gotta watch out for that. And a short five minutes later... I was running!

It felt good... the first trip around the neighborhood (including the warmup) took about 13 minutes... not very fast, but that wasn't really what I was going for. My lungs were aching, and the sweat was dripping, and I felt great! The next loop around was faster... about 11 minutes, give or take. About a quarter mile more, and I stopped, turned around, and started my cooldown. By this point, my lungs were no longer on fire (which seems to be typical for me... after the first mile, they settle down), but my legs were dragging. It took some effort to keep moving them forward... but I kept with it.

Now, you'll note that looking back over the last week or two since I started going back to the gym, I've only run a couple times... 3 minutes, 12 minutes, 1.2 miles... Today I ran 2 miles in 21 minutes. Granted, this was with walking breaks, but it still just feels great to have gotten that far!

And thanks to Leana and The Muse for their words of wisdom on morning workouts. I definitely like them, and I'm going to try very hard to keep them up.

Finally... there is one other special item of note about today. In exactly one month (30 days), the Galloway Training Program for the National Marathon to Fight Breast Cancer starts.

... and I'm only a little scared by that.

Some days, it's hard to get moving

Today was another day for going to the gym. Actually, I had to get up early with my lovely wife, since we had to pick my Jeep up from the shop (on Monday, it decided that it really didn't want to have a rear driveshaft anymore). So, she set the alarm for 5:30.

I know! I didn't even realize there was a 5:30 in the morning!

But still, just to be safe, I set my alarm for 5:45. And it's probably pretty good that I did. Her alarm went off, she fumbled around and turned it off, and we both just laid there. Doing nothing. Not at all motivated to get up. And both our backs were hurting, for some reason -- but that's not really part of the story. After my alarm went off, I started moving around, resigned to the fact that (a) I had to go to the gym, and (2) I still wanted to, anyway. Now, bear in mind that it was lovely wife who wanted to start going to the gym in the morning in the first place. and we finally got moving. At 5:53. Out the door at 6:20. Oh, yeah... we're quick.

So, I did my workout -- no running. 10 minutes on the elliptical, weight machines, and then 15 more minutes on the elliptical. And it mostly felt good. The leg is still pretty tight, so I think I'm going to try to go running tomorrow. Nothing big... just a mile or two. I need to try it out on the road (which I haven't tried since mid-April).

However, I have come to one conclusion. As much as I don't like getting up, working out in the morning really is better. First off, it gives you a kick in the pants before your day starts. There's all the stuff about releasing endorphins and such before getting to work. It's significantly cooler here in Florida in the morning (even if it's still 74 at 5AM) than it is in the evening. And, I think most importantly, it's much more likely not to get canceled because of everything else that pops up during the day. Working late can not, by definition, mess up a morning workout.

Has anybody really been able to make afternoon workouts work for the long haul? If so, what's the secret?

Ain't it always the way?

So, that was a nice little whining session I had on Friday, wasn't it? Of course, I still think it's understandable, given the pain and whatnot, but as luck would have it, I feel much better now! I actually woke up on Saturday morning and went out and played 18 holes with lovely wife and her dad. I'm going to keep you in suspense on my score, but let me just say that I am not good. It was three digits (well into three digits), and I was very much in last place in that group. But there was improvement, and hey, I was just happy to get outside and get some activity in. Beautiful course, too... if you're ever in Southeastern Georgia and get a hankering to play golf, feel free to check out Coastal Pines Golf Club. It's a value course, but it's a fantastic value course!

Yesterday was a good, relaxing day. Which I needed. Because I went back to the gym this morning!!! And there was much rejoicing. Ten minutes on the elliptical, some weight training, and closed with 15 minutes on the treadmill. I wasn't going fast, but I was running. For 12 complete minutes. And I went 1.2 miles. And it felt good. Sure, there were definitely some issues... my asthma was starting to act up a little (but it's under control... nothing to worry about), and my legs were *both* feeling tight. My surgery scar still needs to get some more elasticity in it before things are actually what I would call comfortable. All in all, though, I feel really good.

And I haven't even taken a Tylenol yet this morning.

Although I stress the world "yet".

Probably nothing tomorrow, back to the gym on Wednesday, and then might even get a run/walk in on Thursday, depending on how I'm feeling.

Ahhh! I've been tagged!!!

Runner Gal Leana tagged me for this, and ain't it great?

1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag 3 more people.

Well, as luck would have it, the nearest book to me is actulally "Marathon!" by Jeff Galloway. Ain't I just the best trainer ever... even if I'm not really training yet?

Page 123, fifth sentence actually picks up right after a bullet point, so I'll put down sentences 4 - 5:

"Set up a predicted time, one that you know you could do. Tell your friends about it and see if they want to have a pool. The winner and the marathoner, you, get a free celebration dinner."

Actually a pretty good idea... I hadn't read that far yet. But I might have to try it out. I like food. Especially when it's free.

And now I have to tag thre others. Well, they won't be runners, but they'll be interesting.

The Muse
Heidi Flash
Boozie

30 Days Later

Thirty days ago, I let a strangely-dressed man cut into my leg and take some stuff out. Now, on any other day, that might be considered strange. But, I actually paid this guy to do it! And now, it's time to check in on how my leg is doing post-surgery.

Pretty. Darn. Good.

Honestly, there's only a very slight twinge in the leg sometimes when I get up from my chair that might last a few steps down the hall. And I noticed just a few days ago that I was crossing my legs without even thinking about it -- which has to be good. So, this is great news, right? I should be able to start training in earnest? (Not to be confused with Ernest Goes to the Track -- they never actually made that movie)

Well, not so much. My mouth is still hurting from the wisdom tooth extraction/dry socket, to the point where I really don't feel like doing much of anything. I get up, go to work, do as much as I can, and then head home and crash out on the couch eating whatever soft food I can find -- which generally aren't particularly healthy. Plus, it's not that much fun having soup for lunch in the middle of a Florida summer (yeah, our first day of "summer" was actually in April).

So, what to do?

How does someone motivate themselves to get up and start doing things when you really just don't feel like it? Honestly, I know that my jaw is going to hurt no matter what I do. And I know that I *really* need to get out and get running (note that full-scale training for my marathon starts in just over a month). It's not like a good two-mile walk would really hurt all that much more, right? Does the motivation just end up being, "Hey, how much worse can it get?"

In my head, I really want to get out and get my leg working again.

But other spots in my head sure don't want that.

One step forward, two steps back

If you recall some earlier posts, I was supposed to run a 5k this past weekend... the Run for the Pies. However, there was some debate as to whether or not this would be possible, since I got my wisdom teeth taken out last Thursday. Well, let me cut right to the chase.

It wasn't possible.

Honestly, I was feeling pretty good (considering) at the end of last week. The procedure itself wasn't so bad. I woke up at the end of it, but there wasn't any pain, so I could deal with that. I was up and moving around pretty well on Friday, and I was thinking that there might be a real chance that I would be able to get up and walk (emphasis on walk) around the course on Saturday.

Unfortunately, Saturday came along, and my mouth was on fire. I bailed. Quicker than I'd ever bailed on anything. I was in some serious pain. And Sunday brought absolutely no relief. Things were getting worse -- and I'm pretty sure that they aren't supposed to. Or, at least, if it was supposed to hurt *more* afterward, the doctor would have let me know.

So I went in today to have him look. I have dry socket. And it's not pleasant. Basically, something got dislodged and my bone/nerves are somewhat exposed on my lower left side. So, the doc today gave me some stuff that should help. But the wisdom tooth experience isn't going to be leaving me just yet... and it looks like I won't be working out again for a few days.

It'll sure be nice when I'm not falling apart.

A Flock of Seagulls

Yeah, I know... I said it would be weeks before I ran a step.  But that was last week.  And since then, everything I've done has just felt better and better.  So it happened. 

I ran. 

I ran so far away.  

Well, not actually that far -- I was on a treadmill, after all.  I was at the gym this morning, going through my workout, which ends with 15 minutes of cardio.  According to the "published" workout, it's supposed to be on the elliptical machine, but I wanted to jump on the treadmill and see how things felt.  So I set it to a brisk walk. 

After about 5 minutes, things were feeling pretty good, so I set it to an even brisker walk (at 4.5 miles/hour).  

After 10 minutes, things were still feeling really good, so I started contemplating... should I?  It's been a long time since I took a running step, and I am walking pretty quickly.  But, golly gee, wouldn't it feel great to actually get some running in?

So at 12 minutes, I kicked it up.  Not fast.  6 mph.  10 minute mile pace.  For three minutes.  And you know what? 

It felt great.  

A New Beginning

Today marks the beginning of a number of things when it comes to my training:

• First time I actually went to the gym in the morning (in my past life, I would always go in the afternoon)
• First time since the surgery that I did a full workout
• And... the beginning of my getting serious about working out

That's right. Today, I start in earnest towards getting back into good shape, so I can start my solid training for the marathon next month. Today's workout included:

• 20 minutes walking on the treadmill (1.25 mi)
• Weight training (mostly upper body, but leg press was in there, too)
• 10 minutes on the elliptical

And you know what? Just about all of it felt good. Granted, not as good as it should be feeling in a month, but my leg is feeling much better since Friday's workout. I must have started breaking down some scar tissue or something, because the leg hurts a lot less and has much more flexibility. It still hurts, so I'm still taking it easy, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And I'm feeling good.

Sleeping in tomorrow... next workout is on Wednesday.

This is gonna be tough...

OK, so I just got back from my first trip to the gym since the middle of April. Granted, since then, I had done some outdoor running in the meantime, but the doc had told me to not work out as of May 1st. So, it's been over a month since I got any sort of workout. Or since I got to use my nice running shoes.

...until today.

Granted, I didn't work it very hard (30 minutes, 1.7 miles), and I walked (stress walked) the entire thing. And it didn't feel terrible. I made it. But it didn't feel particularly comfortable either. Actually, the worst part was the first eight minutes -- after that, it got significantly easier. I wonder if that means that there was just a lot of stiffness. It's obvious that the scar tissue has a huge loss of elasticity over the skin that was there.

In any case, I'm still banking on a slow return to running. In fact, I probably won't run a step for at least another few weeks. But at the same time, it sure felt good to get back there.

Rapid

OK, so I'm basically a total geek. I see those stupid YouTube time-lapse videos and think that (a) time-lapse is kinda cool, but that (b) faces are boring. And most of those people really shouldn't put their faces on the internet, anyways. However, I did think that it might be a neat idea to try to chronicle my efforts at healing between the surgery and the marathon. You know, for medicinal study, of course.

This is simply a first cut at this project (no pun intended). It covers the first 2 weeks of healing, so it's short, but still pretty neat. And, yeah, I put the title slide in there so that I could save those of you who still don't want to see it when it was all nasty. Lucky you.





On another note, I actually brought my gym bag to work today for the first time in over a month, hoping to be able to go and get some walking in on the treadmill (it's 91 degrees and humid as hell here now, so walking outside is not an option). I'll update if I can get out of work early enough to go.

Speeding down the long, slow road

First, there's good news... I had my staples taken out this morning, and got the pathology report on the mass that was excised from my leg, and it was a thrombosed ateriovenous malformation. And what's important to know about that is that it's not something to worry about anymore. The doc said that it's good it was removed, because it would recur and tend to get worse, so now I should be fine... as soon as I heal.

Speaking of that, I know that I said I was going to try to go slow on the recovery, but the bug bit me yesterday. My lovely wife was going out to play golf, and I wanted to try it, too -- my leg hadn't been hurting much at all with a fair amount of walking around, so I thought it would be fine. Unfortunately, it started hurting, and I quit in the middle of the par-5 6th. The wife closed out her nine holes, with me as chauffeur.

Now, granted, it was pretty dumb to try to play golf when I still had staples in my leg. But, to be fair, it was that beautiful we-just-had-a-tropical-storm-go-through-and-everything-is-so-pretty-now kind of day.

Still... other than the extra pain yesterday, I'm feeling pretty good! Losing the staples was a big thing. I'll have to post another picture in a few days to show how it's healing.