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.