Runner's Log Week 1

It's the end of my first week of running and I hurt all over. This week has been full of a lot of surprises and revelations.

• I don't hurt as bad as I thought I would.
• It's exactly as hard as I thought it would be.
• I am stronger and more commited than I imagined I would be.

The truth is I never really believed that I could do this. But, I went on faith. For as much as I didn't believe in myself, I did (do) believe in Lars the Destroyer. You don't get his physique without knowing a thing or two.

One week in and I can honestly say that little by little...

• My faith is turning into belief.
• My fear is turning into confidence.
• My fat is burning and muscle is building.

Hopefully this week every run won't end in tears. Well.. so what if they do? My tears aren't sad tears. They are triumphant and pride-filled tears. I get so emotional when LD says "ok... walk." Yesterday when we ran, I didn't even think about tripping him or punching him a single time. Today is a different story. He's kinda on my "sh*t" list today. My calves hurt. My hips hurt. My feet hurt. Hell my entire lower body hurts. I feel like I'm walking in quicksand. But, for all of my whining, I'm pretty damn happy with myself. And, don't tell Lars, but I'm pretty happy with him too. You know what's better than FREE training? Nothing.

True to his Destroyer moniker, Lars says we are increasing our runs this week from walk a 1/4, jog a 1/2, walk a 1/4 to walk a 1/4, jog 3/4, walk a 1/4.

Do I believe I can do it? uh... not really.
Would I prefer to keep our original schedule one more week? Yes.
Am I going to whine and complain about it? What do you think? That's a big fat yes.
Will I quit? HELL NO!

I survived week one of rookie runner 101. I'm looking forward to a challenging and rewarding week two.

Cheers!
Margar

Like Forest Gump - I ran

Yesterday I did it. I finally did it. I embarked on a new adventure - learning to run.

I have a friend who has agreed to assist me in this quest. He prefers to remain nameless and anonymous. But, I have to give him some sort of moniker. I've been pondering nicknames. I toyed with Hulk, Drill Seargant, and Muscles. But, none seemed to really work. So, I asked him what nickname he wanted. At first he came back with Mastadon. I had to say "no" to that. His second choice..."Lars the Destroyer"... I suppose I can get on board with this. Go figure. Who knew he spent his youth playing dungeons and dragons with his friends on his Commodore 64?

Anyhoo... Lars agreed to help teach me to run. I know what you're thinking. It's just running. Everybody can run. There's a difference between "running" to the grocery store, which involves getting in your car; or running from a serial rapist, which involves engaging your "fight or flight" instincts; and running for pleasure. Hmm... I'm not sure "pleasure" is quite the right word... How about "Running for fitness"? Yes. Let's go with that because I think it will be a while before the words "pleasure" and "run" collide in the same sentence for me.

Oh Sorry... back to my point.

LD and I embarked on our first run yesterday. It was more like a slog... er... Jog. We walked for .25 miles; jogged for .5 miles and walked .25 miles. There were moments when I thought I might die. I didn't. There were moments when I thought WTH was I thinking? And, there was at least one moment, when I almost keeled over and prayed for the sweet sweet release of death. But, it was just my gag reflex talking.

It's important to note that I consider LD to be one of my dearest friends on most days. But, he was adamant that BFF status would be left at the door and his Destroyer persona would appear. He kinda lies because he was possibly the best trainer I've ever encountered. And, he wasn't mean at all. I wanted him to push me farther than I would ever push myself. And, he did. I knew that he would not put up with any of my whiny crap. And, he didn't. But, mostly that's because I was too busy wheezing to complain. And, I was really hoping to learn proper form and technique, which I know absolutely nothing about. Mission accomplished.

In fact, I only wanted to trip him a couple of times when he was coaxing me up this hill or that (by hill I mean maybe a 3% incline which lasted no more than 20 yards. But, hey this is my story, and I'm going with hill. You're lucky I didn't call it a mountain cuz that's what it felt like). This afternoon my thighs are starting to burn and I'm hating on Lars the Destroyer just a little bit. But, mostly I'm grateful that he's willing to invest the time and energy in my success.

He's been a good sport all the way around. I've been pontificating to him about my fears about for days. Yesterday, he finally said that I could piggy back on his motivation to a point, but then I was going to have to find it within myself. Tough Love. I love it. You know you really have to pick someone who's not a relative or spouse to prod you on this way. A husband, wife, mother, father, brother, sister etc... could not get away with saying these kinds of things without causing a riff. I can walk away and be pissed at LD and he won't be worried whether or not I might choke him in his sleep or poison his dinner. (Not that I would EVER do any of those things to anyone...)

I've given what he said some thought. I really don't think it was (or is) a lack of motivation. It's more like fear of failure. Or maybe, it's just me trying to give myself an "out". I generally quit or just plain never embark on things that I can't be good at. I never really believed I could do this. I can point to countless resolutions to complete a 5K that were abandoned after half-hearted attempts. Now that Lars is on board. I don't have a choice but to be successful. He sent me a run schedule for the next six months. But, something else has changed. We started our journey about two weeks later than I intended because I came down with a horrible case of bronchitis. This would have been my perfect "out". I could have easily just never brought it up again...But, I kept telling him that I wasn't giving up and when we all finally agreed that I was well enough to give it a shot, I did. That's serious progress. It's the internal stuff that keeps us from achieving the success we really want.

In other News

No weight loss this week. That's ok. Still holding steady. I'm off to walk ever so slowly on a treadmill and bang out a back and biceps workout.

Cheers!
Margar The Willing.

Challenge Update

Hi gang,

It's been an interesting 2 and a half weeks. Week one went great. I lost 3.2 lbs the first week. I lost 1.4 lbs the second week. But, it wasn't a perfect week by any means. I didn't exercise at all. Now, I'm in the middle of week 3 and still no workouts mainly because I came down with a cold last thursday.

It all began on a Thursday night in Roanoke. We drove up to stay with friends the night before we embarked on our Martinsville Race Weekend camping trip. At first it seemed harmless. I bought some cold medicine and cough drops and went on my merry way. But, it was cold and rainy on Friday. I was out in the elements until the wee hours of saturday morning and that was the beginning of the end. Each day was worse and worse. But, I fueled up on cold medicine and stuck it out like the trooper I am.

We came home Monday and I fell apart. I couldn't even get out of bed until 3:30 pm on Tuesday. Yesterday, I finally broke down and went to the doctor only to discover that my common cold had morphed into a series of "itus-es" -- Bronchitis, Acute Sinusitis, and an ear infection. To make matters even worse I had a rib rattling cough. At some point, I apparently coughed so hard that I burst a blood vessel in my ear. Really?! How does that happen? At any rate, I was sent home with a steroid pack, antibiotics and a sedating cough syrup (which, by the way, doesn't work worth a crap). Last night was by far my worst night. But, I am cautiously optimistic that I'm on the mend.

The steroids seem to be working. I can breathe and while my cough is still persistent, it's not nearly as violent as before. I am hopeful that I can return to work tomorrow and even more hopeful that I can get back in the exercise saddle on Monday.

So, my total weight loss to date is 4.6 pounds. I peeked at the scale this morning and it looks like I've lost another 2.7 pounds. But, I'll wait until Monday for official results given that I've barely eaten this week. I'll take it. If this illness has taught me anything it's not to take my health for granted. I've made many deals with God over the last several days. If you could just make me feel better, I will do ________ insert multitude of answers here. But, the most important one is that I will stop taking my health for granted.

Here's hoping that tomorrow I'm back to my old self.

Cheers!
Margar - On the mend